Finding Safe
by GhostWriter321
Summary: After John was hurt, the boys run away into the night in fear of being taken by the police. Hurt and scared, Dean has to leave Sam alone to be able to steal them supplies. What happens when the boys are found and cared for by someone named Dr. Castiel? Will they learn to trust him? Dean is 9 and Sam is 5. Wee!Chesters Young!Sam Young!Dean Pre-series
1. Chapter 1

Dean pounded on the door to the motel room until it finally started to give way. He needed to get to his dad. He didn't even care if the demon had followed his dad inside. Dean knew he had to help with the case, especially now that he was nine. The door was bouncing back at him as he punched, but it still wouldn't break in.

"Quiet, Sammy!" he yelled down to his little brother. Sam knew that Dean was just frustrated that the door wasn't open yet. Sammy frowned and clung onto his hurt arm, continuing to sob despite his brother's request.

Sam stood by, watching Dean do everything in his power to break into the motel room to check on their father. He knew Dean was hurt too, probably more so than Sam was. And even though Sammy was only five, he knew Dean would never admit to needing help.

Taking a deep breath, Dean screamed and threw his body into the door. Dean went running across the old motel room to stop himself from falling on impact. Sammy was frozen in the entranceway; he couldn't move his eyes away from the sight of his father passed out in the corner.

The blood was running down the center of John's forehead. The demon had gotten to him after it had hurt the little boys. John had tried to lead it away from his sons, and unfortunately for him, he was a bit too successful at distracting it. The boys had ran several blocks in the outskirts of Chicago to get back to the crappy motel, knowing that was where John was headed.

"Dean!" Sam yelled into the space, continuing to cry. He had never seen his dad unconscious like that before.

"Sammy," Dean said in a panic, "go pack up our stuff; I'll call for help but we've got to get out of here! They'll take us away!"

John had previously warned the boys about the potential dangers of being alone in a hospital or in front of the police without a parent. The command had stuck with Dean… he didn't want social workers to come separate him from Sammy.

"I... I c-can't, Dean," Sammy said. Dean looked behind him to see Sammy, still in the doorway clutching his arm, his whole body shaking. "It h-hurts w-when I m-move it… a-and I'm c-cold, Dean."

Dean took off his own sweatshirt and immediately went over to Sammy, a pleading look on his face. He gently put it over Sammy's body and helped his little brother slide his hurt arm into the sleeve. Dean took hold of his brother's good hand and pulled Sam into the room more.

Dean was able to get the cell phone out of his dad's jean pocket and called 911. Sammy smiled at Dean's fake deep voice on the phone, relieved that his brother knew what to do.

Sammy listened quietly as Dean gave the address of the motel and the room number, but as soon as the information was recorded, Dean hung up on the operator. He reached in John's other pocket for any cash he may have had on him and then threw some extra clothes into a backpack.

"We have to get out of here before they come for dad, Sammy," Dean said, walking over to him. Sam held onto to Dean tightly with his one good arm and the two of them sprinted down the second floor steps and out of the motel parking lot.

They turned the corner onto the street with a sprint, the water from the puddles splashing up into their faces as they attempted to leap across them. Sammy's stomach turned inside out as it groaned and sputtered. They ran for about ten minutes before Dean felt a sharp tug on his sleeve. "I need a b-break, Dean," Sammy whispered, moving into the closest alley.

Dean could sense his brother felt defeated. Sam sat up against the brick wall of the alley and brought his knees to his chest. Dean watched him scrunch his eyes in pain when his leg came in contact with his twisted arm. A fresh breeze filled the alley and Sammy sunk inside the sweatshirt in an attempt to hide from the cold. He was fading fast.

Dean panicked. He couldn't bring Sammy to a doctor. They would get taken. He didn't have enough money for another motel or for much food. Dean was starving and he knew Sammy must have been hungry by now too. Dean realized he would have to steal… but that would mean leaving Sammy alone for a little while. The last time Dean tried to steal food, Sammy ruined the whole thing. He just wasn't quiet enough.

Dean crouched down in front of his little brother. "Sammy," he whispered softly, "there's a drug store across the street. I'm gonna go get you some stuff, ok? Food... and something for your arm."

"Ok, Dee," Sammy muttered. Dean knew something was wrong if Sammy wasn't going to put up a fight about being left alone, even if it would just be for a few minutes.

"How's your head?" Sammy asked him.

Dean had forgotten about the demon throwing him into the cement wall back at the abandoned factory. He subconsciously brought his hand up to the back of his head, flinching at the pain of his own touch. "It's fine, Sammy," he lied.

Dean stood up and was about to walk away when he heard another little whisper.

"Dee?"

"What, Sammy? I'll be right back. I promise."

"Get something to help your head be better."

Dean smiled at his little brother's request. "Ok, Sammy," he said, "I'll make my head better too." He watched Sammy give a little nod and Dean quickly made his way across the street, trying to come up with a plan for taking the necessary supplies.


	2. Chapter 2

Sammy had a heavy heart as he watched Dean leave him alone in the alley. Dean never left him alone like this… they must've really needed some help. He wished Dean would come back soon. Maybe Uncle Bobby could come help and bring them to see their dad at the hospital.

Sammy winced away from the cold wind and tears started to fall down his cheek, but he quickly stopped when he heard the doors in the back of the alley slam open.

A man with a white apron carrying two big black garbage bags stepped out. The boy watched as the man flung them into the large dumpster.

Sammy glanced across the street, hoping that he would spot Dean coming back to him, but the road was abandoned.

He put his head back down and got into a tight ball, trying to be invisible from the man in the apron. After a few seconds, when Sammy thought it was ok to look, he hesitantly looked, only to find the man staring straight at him. Keeping his eyes glued to Sammy's whimpering figure, the man slowly opened the door and stepped back into the building.

Sammy started to hum to himself as the air began to grow colder. He lay his head back up against the wall inside the hood of the sweatshirt and closed his eyes. He could feel the pain in his stomach and his chest now that the adrenaline was wearing off. His arm was useless and he was alone. Where was Dean? Sammy started to frown and tried to hold back tears when he thought of what may have happened to his brother, his protector.

Another loud noise interrupted his thoughts. Sammy's head snapped down once more when he heard the door open again, but this time, there were three different voices, and one of them was a woman's.

Out of curiosity, he slowly lifted his head to see the man from before in the apron, along with another man and a woman who were wearing matching uniforms. Their shirts were black and they had patches all over.

Sammy pressed himself up against the building as the two new people in the uniforms approached him. He looked at them with fear in his eyes, and Sammy saw the woman whisper something into her partner's ear.

She crouched down in front of him. Sammy wanted to bolt. Where was Dean? What was he supposed to do?

"Hey there," she said soothingly, "my name's Carol, what's yours?" He tried to respond, but the words got caught in his throat. He tried again and a faint whisper of "Sam," creeped out.

"Sam?" she questioned. The little boy simply nodded his head. "Well, how old are you Sam?" she asked him quietly. He took his good arm and held it up, revealing all five fingers to her. "Five," he whispered.

"What are you doing out here, sweetie?" she asked him.

"Waiting."

"For whom?"

"Him," he began. He knew he wasn't allowed to give out a lot of information to strangers. "He said to wait here till he got back." For someone who had done nothing but follow orders his whole life, Sam thought his reasoning for sitting out in the cold sounded as good as any.

"Has he been gone for a really long time?"

Sammy thought about her question and gave a small nod.

"Well then, why don't you come with me and my friend? We will make you feel better and get you out of the cold."

Sammy didn't move. "Wh-where are we going?" he stammered. "I'm not supposed to-".

Carol looked over to her partner and then back at the boy again. "We are going in a special car that takes you to the hospital."

"No," he said immediately, "I'm not sup-supposed t-to..." Where was Dean? Was he allowed to tell her what happened? Was he allowed to talk about Dean? She looked like a good guy, but Dean said that anybody could be a demon, even the ones who looked like the good guys. And Dean said they had to run away so that they wouldn't be brought to the hospital, and now this lady wanted to bring him there!

Because of the way Carol looked at him, he could tell she was confused. "We're not going to hurt you Sam," she told him gently. "We're going inside where it's warm, and we're going to clean you up, make you feel better, and you can eat something."

Sammy thought about her persuasive argument. "You promise?" he asked her. She nodded as she reached out to pick him up.

"No!" he said as loud as he could, throwing out his good arm as a shield. Carol backed off and he slowly stood up, keeping his twisted arm steady. "I-I can walk," he told her. He wanted to run away, to get Dean, but this lady was blocking him in the alley, and if she grabbed him it was going to hurt.

Sammy was pleased that the woman nodded her head and took a step back, allowing him to walk on his own. He could feel Carol's hand go behind his head and gently guided him over to her partner. Sammy followed them out of the alley, and when they got out to the front, he saw a large white van with red and blue lights on the top of it.

Carol smiled at the boy as the other EMT opened the back door to the van. Sam hesitated, looking at how high off of the ground it was. "I gotcha," the EMT said, and before Sam could stop him, he put his arm around the boy. Sammy sat on his forearm as he gently brought him up to the ambulance. Relieved that the man hadn't hurt him, Sammy whispered, "Thank you".

Carol stepped into the ambulance and the man shut the door before walking around to the driver's seat. Carol lifted Sam the same way the driver had, and placed him onto the bed.

"Can you lie down for me, Sam?" she asked, trying to swing his feet up onto the bed. She was a bit surprised when Sam fought her hands away. He shook his head and stayed rooted where he was, keeping his feet dangling off the side of the gurney. He was pleased when she didn't force him to lie down. Maybe she really was a good guy.

As they drove off, Sam looked around at all of the different stuff in the back of the car, waiting for her to use some of the supplies, but Carol just sat next to him and smiled. Sam knew that his dad's first aid kit was nothing compared to what these guys had.

The drive continued in silence and Sammy thought about Dean coming back to find him missing. He should have waited. He was going to be in so much trouble… "I-I don't want to go anymore!" he said, attempting to hop off the bed. Carol immediately put her hand across his knees to keep him on, clearly nervous that he would hurt himself for not being strapped in properly.

"It's ok, Sam," she repeated. "When we get there, my friend is going to be waiting for us, and he's going to make you feel better." She paused for a moment and then yelled up to the driver. "Call the ER," she began, "tell them just to have Castiel waiting."

* * *

**Were you expecting that? If you have any other suggestions/requests for this fix, let me know in a review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Sammy was panicking. He didn't like all of this attention. The sirens were blaring, which was pretty cool, but he just wanted to get back to his big brother. Dean said they weren't supposed to go to the hospital or find the police, and now that was exactly what had happened!

He stayed still in the back of the ambulance, afraid of who this Dr. Cas-person was. What if he was a demon too? Sammy tried to think of his options. Maybe he could run away once he got inside…

The ambulance stopped again.

Except this time, the driver got out of the truck and came around to open the back doors. "We're here," Carol said to him, standing up off the bed. Sammy followed her and jumped off too, before she could try to lift him. He didn't want anybody to touch him; his arm and his body hurt too bad.

"Not many patients walk out of an ambulance you know," she said with a small laugh. He shrugged his shoulders at her remark, but his body stiffened as the doors opened. He saw a new person standing next to the driver. The man was a little bit shorter than the driver. He had brown hair and he was wearing an open white coat.

"This is my friend Dr. Castiel," Carol said sweetly to Sam as she got out of the ambulance, "the one I told you was going to be here."

Sam nodded, but slowly backed up away from the high ledge. "I-I don't want to," Sam said. He shuffled back away from them, starting to get upset.

Before Carol could try to convince him to get out of the ambulance, her radio went off. "We have to go," she said to her partner.

"Come on, Sam," she said to the boy, "You need to come out of the ambulance now. We're not going to hurt you. We need to go help other people who are sick." Sammy could hear her radio call back in again. He didn't move a muscle; he was frozen deep into the back of the ambulance.

"I got him…take the other rig," Sam heard the doctor say. Sammy didn't want the nice lady to leave, but when he looked back out of the ambulance, she was gone.

"Come here, Sam," the doctor said gently.

"No," Sam whimpered, "it's gonna hurt."

To Sam's surprise, the doctor jumped up into the back of the rig. He stayed back by the doors though, and he crouched down to Sam's eye level. His eyes were soft and Sam liked that the doctor was staying calm.

"I know my name is kind of tricky…" the doctor said softly, "so you can call me 'Cas' if you'd like." Cas tilted his head at Sam, trying to gauge a reaction. "Can you say, 'Hi, Cas'?"

It took a few seconds, but Sam found himself repeating the phrase. "Hi, Cas," he whispered to the man.

"Hi, Sam." Cas smiled at him for reassurance. He knew the boy was injured and malnourished, and he didn't want to force him out of the ambulance. Castiel looked down at his feet, trying to think of how to phrase Sam's options to him.

"If you want," Castiel said, looking back up at the shivering boy, "you can get back onto the bed and we can lift the bed out of here." Castiel quickly realized that his words made Sam more nervous. "Or, if you would like, I can lift you off of here however you want me to."

Castiel couldn't figure out what was making this child so scared. "It's warm inside," he reminded Sam, "and we're not going to hurt you, buddy."

Sam nodded and slowly walked toward him. Castiel hopped out of the truck and held out his arms as Sam got closer to him. "Wherever I won't hurt you," he said to the boy. Sam took one of Castiel's hands and put it on his lower back. Then, still using his good hand, Sam put the doctor's other arm under his knees. Sam hesitantly sat back as Cas lifted him sideways out of the back of the ambulance., holding Sam up against his chest.

Castiel didn't know exactly where Sam was hurt, so he didn't want to move too quickly with the boy in his arms. The wind picked up as they made their way towards the building entrance, and Castiel grinned when he realized that Sam's face was buried into his neck to shield himself from the cold.

Sam immediately noticed the change in the air when they walked into the hospital. He kept his head down on Cas' shoulder, but he was peeking at his new surroundings. There were people everywhere, but Sam was happy that nobody else was bothering them or asking him questions.

Castiel brought him over to a bed that had a curtain around it. He carefully placed the boy down onto the bed and then sat on a stool that he wheeled over next to Sam. Castiel tried to make eye contact with him, but Sam had lowered his head to the ground, looking only at his swinging feet that were now dangling off the bed.

"How old are you Sam?" Cas asked.

"Five," he said, barely above a whisper.

"Sam, where are your parents?"

Sammy raised his head and looked straight into Cas' eyes, a tear slowly falling down little boy's cheek.

As Sam began to cry, Cas reached out to comfort him on instinct, but Sam gasped and pulled away sharply. Castiel pushed himself backwards a bit on the rolling stool, realizing that Sam wanted the man nowhere near him.

Cas paused for a moment, visually assessing the boy's body language. He needed to gain trust more quickly.

He reached over to his cart with some basic medical supplies and picked up a damp cloth. "I'm just going to clean up your face a little, ok buddy?"

Sam didn't respond, but Cas gently held his chin still and started to softly wipe the dirt of off Sam's face.

Castiel wanted to just jump into setting the boy's twisted arm and examining him for other major injuries, but he knew that would involve some trauma for the kid, and Cas just couldn't bring himself to cause the poor thing any more fright. Cas had so many questions about why Sam was alone in that alley, but he couldn't ask the boy yet. This was going to be a long night...


	4. Chapter 4

"So, Sammy, who's your favorite superhero?"

Castiel kept his voice soft as he continued to gently clean the blood and dirt off of the boy's face with the warm washcloth.

Still sitting up on the gurney, Sammy flinched away from him occasionally, but overall, Cas thought the boy was doing well.

"Umm, I don't know," Sammy whispered back to him.

"C'mon…" Cas encouraged, "you must have a favorite."

Sam paused and watched Cas carefully as the man pushed himself over a bit on the stool and placed the washcloth back on the cart.

"My brother."

Cas snapped his head over to Sam. "Your brother?" Cas was panicking. Was there another boy outside they had missed? Was this boy hurt as well? No, Cas thought, his brother must be much older. He must not be aware of his little brother being beaten. He must not live with him...

Cas considered his next words carefully as he picked up a digital thermometer.

"So he's your big brother? He must be pretty great if he's your superhero." Cas smiled down Sam and gently placed one hand under the boy's chin to hold his head still.

But Sam didn't answer Cas because he was too concerned about the object that was getting closer to the side of his head.

Cas could feel Sam pulling away from the hold on his chin. "It's just going to rest in your ear for two seconds, kiddo," he explained. Sam's eyes grew wide when he felt the thermometer, but Cas kept a relaxed look on his face and Sammy realized that it somehow kept him calm too.

"He's better than a superhero."

"Your brother? Is he your big brother then?"

"Mhmmm, he's really big. He's already nine!"

Castiel's breath stopped. He was expecting Sam to be talking about a teenager. But a nine year old? The chances of this boy also being hurt were… Cas wanted to puke. Something about this whole situation didn't feel right. He barely knew Sam and yet he felt this connection that he couldn't quite place.

"Was your brother— was he with you tonight?" Cas asked, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice.

Sam's expression said it all. The boy felt his eyes start to get watery again as the guilt of leaving his brother behind took over.

Cas crouched down a little more on the stool to make eye contact with Sam.

"Sam, this is very important. I know that you were hurt tonight, and I need to know if your brother was hurt too."

Cas ran his thumb back and forth over the boy's knee. "Sam?"

Sammy looked up slowly from the floor, tears on his cheeks. He nodded his head three times and Cas' stomach turned.

"Where was he hurt, Sam?" Cas asked a bit more forcefully.

Sam wouldn't speak, but he used his good arm to point to the back of his own head. "Can you help him?" Sammy whispered.

"Where did he go tonight, Sam? Where can we find him?"

Castiel stood up and got the attention of another doctor on the floor, calling him over to where they were.

Sammy cowered away and kept his head down when he saw the new man.

"Hey, hey," Cas said soothingly when he saw Sam's change in body language, "where is he? I know he's your superhero. We have to find him to make sure he's ok too. Where was he when they found you?"

There were a few moments of silence before Sam got the courage to answer the doctor.

"A-ac-ross the s-street," Sammy mumbled, "f-for food… and m-medicine."

Sam silently cried as the two men exchanged information. The other doctor called out to some adults in the ER, but Sam blocked out what he was yelling. Dean was gonna be so angry that they were caught.

Castiel returned his attention to the boy and did his best to make eye contact. "What's his name, Sam?" Cas asked softly. He wiped some remaining tears off of Sam's face.

Cas tilted his head sideways at the boy, waiting patiently for an answer.

"D-dean."

The other doctor moved away from the bed where Sam was and ran to catch up with another group of adults.

"Ok, Sam," Cas said with a reassuring smile, "we are going to try and find him to make sure he's ok."

Sammy nodded and Cas turned away for a second to grab something else off the cart, but Sammy thought Cas was leaving him. Cas took another step away and Sam reached out with his good arm and firmly grabbed onto a piece of Cas' white coat.

Cas quickly looked down at the boy's hand and realized what had happened.

"Oh, Sam, I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going anywhere, buddy. My friends," Cas gestured out to the nurses station, "they are going to go get your big brother, ok? I'm going to stay right here with you and fix you up."

Cas moved back towards Sam and the boy let himself fall into the man's chest, his forehead buried into the Cas' scrubs.

"Can you tell me the truth, Sam?" Cas asked, running his hand through the boy's hair. "Are you in a lot of pain?"

Sammy kept his head buried, but slowly nodded once more. Cas gently pulled away from him and softly tilted the boy's head up.

"You need to let me examine you, ok?"

Sammy looked at him and swiftly shook his head back and forth. "I don't want to," he said shyly.

Cas sighed. "Please? I'm not going to hurt you. You have to trust me, kiddo."

Cas observed the way he was protectively cradling his arm. "I can help make your arm stop hurting… and then we can get you some good food."

"You promise it's not scary…?" Sam asked.

Cas felt his heart drop in his chest.

"I promise."

**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! I'm glad you're enjoying the fic - please let me know what you would like to see in future chapters!**


	5. Chapter 5

"Alright," Castiel began, "let's get this sweatshirt off."

Sam sat up a little on the gurney in the ER, and Cas helped him get his good arm out of its sleeve.

Cas noticed Sam's hesitance about having to move his other arm.

"Don't worry, I'm really good at this," Cas told the boy as he pulled the sweatshirt up over Sam's head and very slowly down the twisted arm.

"You know, we're going to need to take an x-ray of your arm to see what we can do to make you feel better," Cas said to him softly. Sammy just eyed the entrance to the ER as if he was expecting Dean to come marching in at any time to rescue him. "No," Sam whispered, "I want Dean."

Castiel could see that the boy was starting to tremble; he didn't want to move the kid away from where he could see the door.

"Look, Sam." Cas grabbed a small penlight from his coat pocket and held it up for Sam to examine. "It's a little flashlight, see?"

Sammy's attention was brought back over to Cas and he nodded upon checking out the light. Cas quickly flashed it at Sam's eyes, noticing for the first time just how sunken they were. Cas added dehydration to his mental list of notes.

"Can you open up your mouth?" Cas asked gently. Sam looked confused, but complied. Sammy crossed his eyes down when he saw Cas' hand move toward him again to keep his chin still. The light didn't bother him too much.

"Does your throat hurt?" Cas asked. He watched as the boy shook his head back and forth.

Sam optimistically thought Cas was done examining him when he saw Cas put the pen light back in his coat pocket, but the man reached back out to him and started pressing on Sam's neck and up under his jaw.

Sammy instinctively withdrew and tried to tuck his chin down to his chest.

"It's ok, it's ok," Cas repeated softly, stopping his movement. "Umm, can you tell me how many stars are on the ceiling Sam?"

The boy scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion before glancing up to where Cas was pointing. There were a few neon stars painted on the ceiling of the small exam room.

Cas smiled when Sam relaxed his muscles and tilted his head back to count the stars. "Count 'em out loud for me, ok?" Cas requested.

Sammy mumbled as he counted from one to seven, trying his hardest to keep himself calm. Dean had said that when something touched your neck, it wanted to strangle you, but Sammy didn't think that was what Cas was trying to do. He exhaled when he felt Cas' hands finally pull away and he eyed the man, watching him grab something new off of the wall.

"This is just another flashlight, Sam," Cas said, holding the object up for the boy to inspect. "It's got a funny shape because it lets me see in your ears. Would that be ok?" Sam nodded yes, but Cas wound up having to place his free hand on the side of the boy's head to stop him from turning away.

"When was the last time you cleaned in your ears, Sam?" Cas asked him lightly.

Sam shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno," he whispered.

Cas chuckled, "Well I guess you'll have to get your brother to help you with that from now on..."

Sam looked up at Cas with wide eyes, a frown spreading down his face. "Where's Dean?" he mumbled. Cas put the otoscope back and sighed.

When Cas didn't have an answer, Sam started to fidget on the bed, scooting down slightly from where he had been placed.

Noticing the change, Cas squatted down and blocked off Sam's range of vision. "Hey, hey, we are doing everything we can to find him. Ok? We need to care about you right now... How about you lie down?"

"I'm not tired," Sammy said defensively.

"I know, Sam," Cas explained, "but it will help me make you better."

Before Sam could process what was happening, Cas had placed one hand under Sam's knees and his other hand gently behind the boy's head. Sammy didn't have the strength to fight him, so he focused his attention on keeping his twisted arm still as Cas turned him sideways on the bed and laid him back until his head softly hit the gurney. Cas stood over him protectively and very carefully helped Sam place his bad arm next to him on the bed.

Sammy didn't like lying down. He couldn't see the door anymore and he couldn't see what Cas was doing behind him, and it hurt too bad to twist around to look. Sammy also thought it would hurt his belly and his arm too much to try and sit up. He was stuck.

He felt something being slipped underneath his good arm. "This is going to hug your arm for a minute, ok Sam?"

Sam looked down at the wrap around his upper arm and then shot a look back up to Cas. He found comfort in the fact that Cas was calm and smiling. "Here," Cas said, holding out his free hand for Sam to grab, "if it gets too tight, squeeze my hand and I'll take it off, ok?"

Cas' heart melted when he felt the little fingers attempt to wrap around his hand. He started the blood pressure cuff and eagerly awaited the results to try and start putting a treatment plan together for the kid. Cas noticed that as the cuff got tighter, Sam shut his eyes, but he never squeezed his hand.

"You did such a great job," Cas said to him, relieving the pressure from the cuff and ripping the velcro strap off of Sam's arm. "Are you ok?"

Sam nodded and slid his hand out from around Cas' palm.

"Hey, can I see that hand again for a second?" Cas asked him. Sam didn't have a reason not to comply and reached out to take hold of Cas' hand once more. Sam watched curiously as Cas put some a cold lotion on top of his hand.

"I have to put some medicine in your hand later, and this is cream will make sure it doesn't hurt your skin..."

Cas put a square patch over the top of Sammy's hand to keep the cream there and then gently lowered Sam's arm back down onto the bed.

Sam watched Cas as he stepped away from the bed and started going through the drawers in one of the carts in the room. He wished he knew what the man was going to do next. He wanted his arm to be better, but nobody could touch it without it hurting...

Sam's eyes widened when Cas finally turned around; he was holding a pair of scissors.

"Sam," he said cautiously, seeing the boy start to squirm a bit more, "I need to check out your heart, and your chest, and your belly, and I don't want your t-shrit to pull on your arm." Cas ran his hand across Sam's forehead to try and get him to still a bit. He fought for eye contact. "It's going to help if I cut the shirt off..."

"B-bu-but, but, but it's" Sam stuttered.

"It's what, Sam?" Cas asked encouragingly, trying to assess the boy's fear. He ran his hand across Sam's forehead once more and bent down to the boy's level.

"It was a ac-acci-accident."

Cas could see the tears starting to pool in the kid's eyes. "Hey, hey, hey," he repeated softly. "I know it was an accident. I know. It's ok, buddy. Nobody here is going to hurt you..." Cas pretended to know what the kid was talking about. He figured it was better to just go along with whatever Sam's story was.

Cas repeated the reassuring phrases as he very carefully cut down the center of Sam's shirt from the neckline through to the bottom seam. He then cut across each sleeve so that the top of the shirt completely opened up off of Sam.

Cas tried to hide his grimace when he saw what Sam must have been trying to hide. His chest and stomach were covered in blue, purple, green, and yellow bruises. The pattern was an enigma to Cas, but one thing was certain, it was no accident. He immediately wondered who Sam was covering for.

Before Cas could decide what he wanted to say to Sam, who had now tightly shut his eyes, he was interrupted by the screams of a kid in the entranceway of the ER.

"WHERE IS HE?!"

There was a crashing sound and screeching of sneakers on the tile floor.

"WHERE IS SAMMY?!"

Cas snapped his head over to get a look at the boy, who was being pulled across the space by a police officer and two doctors. He was kicking his feet up and trying to swing out of their hold on him.

Sam had tried to sit up on the bed as soon as he heard his brother's voice, but Cas had one hand on Sam's knees and the other on his forehead to keep him gently pinned down.

Before Cas could stop him, the little body in front of him gasped for breath to be able to scream a drawn-out "DEAN!" that filled the entirety of the ER.


	6. Chapter 6

Sam's scream was deafening, and Dean snapped his head over to where the voice had come from, but Dean couldn't see Sammy. There was just a man in a white coat standing next to someone lying on a bed... someone with Sammy's shoes.

Dean harshly twisted his head and bit into the arm of one of his captors. When he felt the man let go of him, Dean stomped on the foot of the doctor who had been holding onto his other arm and managed to free himself.

Cas was watching Dean's movement across the ER, but could sense that Sam was now starting to cry; the boy had begun trembling as soon as he had heard his big brother's voice calling for him.

Dean began sprinting towards Cas, with the cop right on his heels, and Cas knew he needed to make a decision quickly about how to handle this unique situation.

Seeing Dean running at full force, Cas let the kid come right at him, and just as Dean made it to Sam's bedside, Cas used the boy's momentum to lift him up onto the bed behind Sam's head.

The police officer stopped in the doorframe. "Dr. Castiel, this boy needs to come with us. He robbed a convenience store and-"

"No," Cas found himself saying more forcefully than he had intended. "After seeing the condition of the brother, I can only assume... he needs medical attention. They... they need to stay together."

The police officer didn't back down, so Cas gestured with his head for him to come look at Sam's torso.

When Cas turned back to look at the boys, his breath halted. This older brother, Dean, was now a completely different person than the one who had just assaulted the two men moments ago.

Dean sat calmly right next to his brother's head, soothingly stroking his hair and holding his hand. When the cop saw the bruising on Sam, and the way that Sam reacted to the "thief", he nodded to Cas. "I'll be back in a few hours," he said softly.

Cas shut the curtain around them after the cop left the small exam room. He turned towards the bed and Dean locked eyes with him. Cas was startled by the amount of fear the boy's eyes possessed.

"Is that better, Sam?" Cas asked gently, somewhat ignoring Dean's added presence. "Now that your superhero is here?" Cas hoped Dean would get the point Sam had already started opening up to him and trusting him.

"Yeah, Cas," Sam whispered up to Dean, who had leaned forward so that Sammy could see his face. "It's better now."

Dean looked defensively over to Cas. "Were you hurting him? Why is his shirt off? How did he get here?"

"Dean, someone found him in the alley... by himself. They called an ambulance that brought him here and I've been taking care of him to see how I can help." Cas chose his words carefully. "His arm is hurt and I cut off the shirt so I could examine it better-"

"He's a good guy, Dean," Sammy said up to his brother, still lying flat on his back. "He's gonna help your head."

"Sammy! No!" Dean whispered harshly.

"He told me about what happened tonight, Dean. That you hurt your head... and I will help you too, later, but first I need you to be my assistant a bit to help me take care of Sam. Can you do that for me?" Cas saw how protective Dean was and thought maybe he could use Dean to help him treat Sam.

Dean looked down at Sammy and nodded. "Ok. I can help," he said with a tremor in his voice, "but you're not allowed to hurt him."

Cas raised his hands up with his palms facing out towards the boys and smiled. "I promise. I won't hurt you. Either of you. Can you trust me?"

"Do you want him to fix your arm, Sammy?" Dean asked down shyly.

Cas couldn't hear Sam's reply, but he felt relieved when Dean looked up at him and said, "Ok. You can fix him."

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**Sorry this is so short! I wanted to get something up for you guys but I'm falling asleep as I type. Please review and let me know what you think and if you have any ideas/requests!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I know. I know... I'm a terrible human being for abandoning you. I'm very sorry. I'm not really sure where this story is going, but, I will try to keep writing the sweetness. **

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"Can you hold Sam's good hand, Dean?" Cas asked. Dean was seated on the bed above Sam's head, so Sam reached back behind him until he felt Dean take hold of his hand. Cas knew it would comfort the little boy, but it also exposed his bruised chest and ribs a bit more, while keeping his hand restrained up by his ear on the bed.

"I'm going to listen to your heart, Sam," Cas said, slowly grabbing his stethoscope. "I'm not going to hurt you; it just might feel a bit cold, ok?"

Sam squirmed slightly when the bell made contact with his skin. "It's ok, Sam," Cas repeated. "I'm just listening." Dean sat a bit taller, watching Cas' every move and making sure Sam wasn't in pain from it. He eyed the doctor as the man moved the bell around to different parts of Sam's chest.

Sam bit his bottom lip and squeezed Dean's hand, trying to sink away into the table. Cas could tell his breathing was shallow because of the bruising on his chest. "Sam," Cas said softly. He gently placed his free hand on the side of Sam's ribcage, barely making contact. "I need you to take deep breaths to fill your lungs with air to help clear them out and make them better. We're all going to breath together, ok?"

Cas adjusted the bell on the stethoscope again and took an exaggerated breath in, waiting for Sam to copy him. Sam opened his mouth and took in a breath, his eyes immediately watering from the pain.

"It hurts a bit, buddy, because your lungs are pushing on your ribs, and I think your ribs are bruised. I need you to do one more big breath ok? Dean's going to breathe with us too."

Sam tilted his head back and looked up behind him at Dean, who nodded with some encouragement, much to Cas' surprise. Sam shot his eyes back down when he saw the doctor move his hand. Sam instinctively flinched away when he felt Cas place his hand down over some of the bruising. Cas and Dean took in an audible breath together, and Sammy did his best to copy them, but he halted suddenly when he felt a jab in his side and fought against his eyes from tearing.

Cas quickly tossed the stethoscope back around his neck and moved his hand over Sam's forehead. "You're ok, Sam. You're ok," Cas repeated. "You're doing great, buddy. Try to keep your breaths steady. That's it..."

Cas glanced up at Dean. "How's your head?" he asked softly.

Dean winced, but tried to hide his fear. "I'm fine," he said bluntly. "You need to help Sammy."

"I am," Cas said calmly. "But we're also going to make sure you're not hurt. Sam needs you to be ok, right?" Cas knew he could continue to use the "be tough for Sam" card to get the older boy to be complacent. Cas also knew that Dean was probably more terrified than Sam about being in the hospital.

"What's on his hand?" Dean asked, noticing the clear tape across the of Sam's hand that he was holding.

"It makes the skin there fall asleep so that if I need to put medicine into his vein, it won't hurt him," Cas said. He looked down at Sam and winked. "Should we put some on Dean's hand?" he asked Sam with a smile. Sam nodded and lifted up Dean's hand toward Cas. Dean wanted to pull his hand back and tell him no, but he knew he had to be tough in front of Sammy.

Cas noticed his hesitance though and decided he probably shouldn't touch the older boy yet. "Maybe in a little while, ok?" he said to them. "We need to make sure this belly of yours isn't hurt."

Sammy whimpered when Cas got closer to him. "P-please," Sam whispered. "Don't. It hurts."

"We're just going to check it out fast, and then we will go take care of your arm." He noticed Sam's eyes watering again, his bottom lip starting to quiver. Cas spoke with a lighter tone. "How about you hold my hand? And then if I hurt you, you can just pull my hand away? Does that sound good, Sam?"

Cas waited patiently for Sam to let go of Dean and hold onto his wrist. "Pull my hand away if it hurts too much," Cas repeated. He could feel Sam's hand shaking as his fingers latched onto him. Cas did his best to palpate the boy's stomach without applying too much pressure. Dean got up on his knees as if he was ready to fight off the man, watching intensely.

Cas moved his hand down further, to feel for damage near the boy's liver, and Sam instantly yanked Cas' hand off. "Noooo," Sam whined. "Ok, ok," Cas said, not trying to cause him more anxiety. "I won't touch that side." Cas paused for a moment and then brought his hand down to another spot on Sam's gut where he thought there might be some bruising, relieved that the boy didn't pull his arm away. "It doesn't hurt over here?" Cas asked, watching Sam's facial expressions carefully. Sam bit his lip.

"It looks a little purple," Cas said.

"It's ok..." Sam whispered.

Cas moved his hand away and Dean immediately reached out to hold Sam's hand once more. "How about we go for a ride?"

"In a car?" Sam asked nervously.

"No," Cas said smiling. "The bed is on wheels. Pretty cool, right?"

Sam didn't seem so sure, but didn't protest. "Wh-where?" Sam asked.

"We're going to see how we can fix your arm and your tummy, ok? And Dean is going to ride along with you."

Dean was happy that Cas hadn't mentioned any kind of a treatment plan for himself. Sam was the one who needed help, not him. His head was starting to pound though, but he stopped himself from saying anything about it, afraid of what might happen if he told.


End file.
